Christian Ponder sees himself playing with Matt Kalil for 10-15 years

Posted by Michael David Smith on June 7, 2012, 6:38 AM EDT

AP

Using last year’s first-round draft pick on Christian Ponder was a sign that the Vikings believed in him as their franchise quarterback for years to come. Using this year’s first-round draft pick on Matt Kalil was a sign that the Vikings wanted to keep Ponder upright for years to come.

That’s how Ponder views it: He told Andrew Siciliano on NFL Network’s Total Access that he could see himself growing old in the NFL with Kalil as his left tackle.

“I haven’t stopped smiling since that Thursday night of the draft,” Ponder said. “I’m definitely excited that we picked up Matt and he’s already impressed me. He’s come into these OTAs and he’s working hard. He’s a big guy, he’s really athletic and he’s going to do a great job. Obviously he did really well at USC and he’s going to continue that and be really good in the NFL. Hopefully we have 10-15 years together with the Vikings.”

Ponder said he knows that with the Packers, Lions and Bears all in the same division, almost everyone is picking the Vikings to finish last in the NFC North. But Ponder says the Vikings will surprise people.

“A lot of us, myself as well, kind of like the underdog role,” Ponder said. “We’re going into the season, a lot of people don’t have too high expectations for us. We know internally that we really have high expectations for ourselves. We know the talent we have on this team, we have the right pieces coming together and we’re working hard in OTAs to get better for next year. It is a tough division, we have to be competitive, there are going to be a lot of tough games every week but it’s going to make our team better. We’re trying to make it to the playoffs.”

Making the playoffs this year will be a long shot, but if Ponder and Kalil are as good as the Vikings think they’ll be, Minnesota has the nucleus in place for a team that should make the playoffs many times in the years ahead.

32 responses to “Christian Ponder sees himself playing with Matt Kalil for 10-15 years”

The Vikes are slowing getting quality players via the draft and the young guys have a lot of talent. Happy to have Toby as a back up rb to carry the load in case AP has to miss a few games. Also, Childs would have been a first round pick hadn’t he tore his patella in college, he did some great things with Mallott at QB at Arkansas. This team will be good in a year or two. Unfortunately, it will take time. I see 7-9, 8-8 at best, granted they have one of the easiest schedules in the league. So that will handicap it quite a bit.

Ponder will bring the Vikings to the playoffs but, not this year, maybe the next. The team is still missing a few key components and Ponder is just not there yet, he has a lot more to soak up and experience before hitting the big games.

It takes some deep thought to figure out what the Vikes saw in Ponder. I saw him for 3 years in college and frankly, he was maybe in the top 5 in the ACC his final year. He never completed a season and never lived up to promise. He is destined to be holding a clipboard.

What’s really interesting is the Vikings schedule coming off their bye at the end of the year. They should be at top form and have to face division rivals that could have already locked up a spot in the playoffs.

It’s nice that Ponder is comfortable knowing that Kalil will be protecting his blindside.

However, Ponder should be more concerned about keeping the starting QB job. His play regressed as last year went on, and he missed time to injuries, just as he did in college. Joe Webb out played Ponder at the end of last season, when Webb got the chance to play. Webb seemed to get better while Ponder’s play lagged.

It takes some deep thought to figure out what the Vikes saw in Ponder. I saw him for 3 years in college and frankly, he was maybe in the top 5 in the ACC his final year. He never completed a season and never lived up to promise. He is destined to be holding a clipboard.
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Although I know you’re a great NFL scouting mind, just watch him this year. Maybe you’ll figure out what the Vikings saw in him.

specialteamsposter says:
Jun 7, 2012 9:04 AM
Joe Webb played scrappy well at the end of last year. I just don’t see Ponder beating him out for a starting job this offseason if it is a fair competition. This coming from a Lions fan.

demo1984 says:
Jun 7, 2012 10:25 AM
specialteamsposter says:
Jun 7, 2012 9:04 AM
Joe Webb played scrappy well at the end of last year. I just don’t see Ponder beating him out for a starting job this offseason if it is a fair competition. This coming from a Lions fan.

With those numbers it looks like Ponder had a better rookie season. So after Staffords rookie season which was not as good as Ponders did you see him beating out Culpepper the next year ???

This coming from a Vikings fan.

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Comparing Stafford to Ponder? What a straw man…. I wouldn’t put Ponder’s arm strength in the same category as Stafford’s. And if it is athleticism/scrambling ability one is looking for, which was supposed to be one of Ponder’s pluses, then Joe Webb outperforms in that category. I wasn’t taking a swipe at Ponder as much as I was praising Webb’s performances late last season. I have no horse in this race.

demo1984 says:
Jun 7, 2012 10:25 AM
specialteamsposter says:
Jun 7, 2012 9:04 AM
Joe Webb played scrappy well at the end of last year. I just don’t see Ponder beating him out for a starting job this offseason if it is a fair competition. This coming from a Lions fan.

Unshavenjunk – some teams get tough schedules through no fault of their own. Others (Cleveland, St. Louis, Mini) have only themselves to blame because they lost a lot and can’t be scheduled for divisional games against themselves.

@marksp18
What did he say that was ridiculous? Saying that he hopes him and Matt will be together for 10-15 is kind of what he is supposed to say. Would you have liked him to say “Oh hopefully our organization’s two highest picks the past two years work out, but they might not because I have injury concerns. It sure will be fun to find out, though!”? He was asked a question about Matt and he answered. Simple as that. Plus, wouldn’t you want him to be a leader? You know, seeing how the QB is the most important position on the team and everything. He’s not saying anything detrimental to the team, so why are you complaining?